Beside You
by destinykeyblade
Summary: What if Sephiroth had been the one injured in the VR room that fateful day? One thing is certain - neither of them is going to be anywhere but at his side. AU (clearly), will include other characters but mostly centered around the big three.


Hello, darlings! Welcome to yet another fic where I do horrible things to Sephiroth, because apparently that's how I show my love for him? -.-" Anyways, this has been in the works for a while, but I only managed to get this first chapter done, like, last week, because Genesis didn't want to be cooperative and let me in his head to write. I had the idea sometime last summer, one hot and miserable night at 3 AM, when all good ideas hit lol, and it really grabbed hold of my imagination, because really, Genesis getting that cut in their spar was what set off the entirety of the FFVII story, right? So, if it never happened, how would things be different? I'm not really sure how to categorize this one in terms of genre, partially because I'm not sure where I'm going with it DX The title comes from the song Beside You by Phildel - beautiful song, if you haven't heard it, I recommend it, and while some of the lyrics clearly don't apply to this, the feel and sound of the song is just perfect for this story in my opinion.

Also, I'd like to warn anyone who's uncomfortable with gross things or blood that there's a fair amount of both in here. I almost wanted to call this horror, but the overall story won't be, so I didn't feel that I could justify doing so. Still, I have to say, I have a long history of being able to make myself cry while writing, but I've never made myself this sick to my stomach before; I seriously almost hurled, although it _may_ be because I was in Genesis' head and from his point of view it's super horrifying? I don't know. I mean, I was really caught up in the moment, but even rereading, it makes my stomach turn, so if you're bad with that, beware. That said, if you're good to go, let's go!

* * *

Genesis's smirk couldn't have been wider. Oh, sure, they'd managed to put yet another VR room out of commission, and it was definitely coming out of their salaries this time, but who could care about that in light of the gloriousness of his victory? Yes - he, Genesis Rhapsodos, had at last vanquished his eternal rival, the 'mighty' Sephiroth, in a duel.

...Actually, Angeal had stopped the bout after the shard of his sword that Rapier had severed from the rest of the standard-issue blade somehow _ricocheted_ off one of the walls and flew at Sephiroth tip-first, slicing neatly through the leather of his coat and into the skin just above his right shoulder-blade. Of course, as Genesis had assured him, Sephiroth was _fine_ , if surprised, but the muscular SOLDIER had snatched Rapier away from him anyway, declaring the matter settled with a Look at them both, and woe betide anyone who dared talk back to one of those. Genesis did so anyway.

"Angeal, _honestly_ ," he drawled, reclaiming his sword in a swift motion that would not have succeeded had the other First actually wanted to keep it from him. "How are any of us going to hone our skills if you're always stopping our spars?"

The Look, which was already frightening enough on his friend's usually smiling face, morphed into a _**Look**_ , Genesis Rhapsodos - that is, the expression of impending doom that Angeal only ever directed at him - and the Crimson Commander made a show of proclaiming the other Banoran a mother chocobo in an attempt to keep Sephiroth from realizing just how pitifully he was backing down. He was expecting a subtly snarky comment despite his efforts, but when Sephiroth's velvety baritone failed to assault his ears, he cast a glance over his shoulder, frowning. The silver-haired man was not paying him any attention, which was strange, as he normally leapt at the chance to engage him in clever wordplay; rather, his own face was set into a steadily deepening frown as he repeatedly rolled his shoulder back and forth.

Genesis looked away quickly, eyes focusing on his boots. Sephiroth was nigh on invincible - even if he were hurt, which was admittedly rare, the mako in his body began to heal the wound almost instantly. A cut that shallow should have been closed already, yet he could still detect the bizarre tang of the Silver General's blood in the air.

 _I didn't actually..._ hurt _him, did I?_ he thought, slightly concerned.

Feeling more than a little guilty when another furtive look at Sephiroth revealed his expression to be something like worried, Genesis cleared his throat to get their attention, giving off an air of impatience. "Since neither of you appear to be heading that way, I suppose _I'll_ go up to the control room and turn off the equipment so no more of it explodes." Angeal's eyes were narrowed when he nodded at him, and the crimson-clad SOLDIER did his best not to scurry toward the ladder at the icy voice in which he remarked "Yeah, why don't you do that?" Swiftly, he made his way up the ladder - honestly, why couldn't they just have put in a staircase if they were going to have their little control center above the rest of the room? - contemplating how much easier it would be if he could fly. (Angeal had an irritating tendency to call thoughts like that lazy, but Genesis Rhapsodos was decidedly _not_ lazy. He just had better things to do with his time.)

 _And he should really stop thinking to himself in third person, because it's getting creepy,_ he admitted as he hauled himself up to the balcony-like structure that housed all the control panels for the equipment. Everything had to be turned on and off in a very specific order, but by this time he'd had enough experience with the machines that his hands knew the routine better than his head, so the commander retreated into his thoughts and let them go about their work.

Finally. _Finally_. How long had he been trying to beat Sephiroth now? He honestly didn't know anymore, it had been so long since he'd set what most had called an impossible goal to best the other swordsman, and now he'd actually done it. So, then. Why had the euphoric feeling that he'd been basking in a moment ago already faded and left him feeling so empty? He wasn't fool enough to think he knew everything about himself; after all, no man could, but he did know Genesis Rhapsodos well enough to be aware that he should be crowing about this for weeks on end and enjoying every second of it, so why? Why was the elation at having defeated his rival already gone?

Switches and dials and knobs were delicately maneuvered with deft hands even as the owner of those hands wanted to smash something with them. He'd accomplished his goal of being better than Sephiroth, so why. Wasn't. He. Happy. He huffed in irritation as he finished shutting down the machinery, then paused as, along with the progressively lower hum of everything powering down, a strange sound met his enhanced ears. He wasn't entirely sure _what_ it was, exactly, though it sounded a bit like... a strangled groan? A choked sob? Genesis frowned and put his hands palms down on the console in front of him, leaning on it as he tried to decipher the noise and where it could possibly have come from. Odd as it was, he was glad for the distraction it posed; at least now he didn't have to think about himself and WHY in the Planet's name his victory didn't thrill him as it should have.

As he loitered there in the control room, he heard something hit the floor - a piece of the wall, he assumed, since it sounded fairly heavy, but there was something about the noise that didn't sit right with him. If it had been a chunk of wall, the impact should have been a bit louder, and he'd have expected a metallic ring on top of that. Whatever had fallen, it sounded almost like... He blinked as he placed it, his memory bringing up a plethora of images from the battlefield, but that didn't make any sense at all. How could he have heard a body hitting the floor? Honestly, _what_ was _with_ the weird noises in here? The red-clad SOLDIER made his own noise, one of disgust, as he stood up straight and turned to leave the small room, his coat flaring out dramatically when he did so.

"GENESIS!"

The man in question jumped at the sound of Angeal's voice resonating through the whole of the VR room, raised in what, if Genesis didn't know better, he would have called panic. Alright, really, this was getting ridiculous. Nothing that had happened in the past few minutes had made ANY sense whatsoev-

Deep blue eyes widened in horror as the seemingly strange and unrelated noises suddenly clicked, and Genesis froze solid for a moment, unable or unwilling to process the thought that had just occurred to him. He jumped again as something else started to echo through the airwaves, but the sound that followed Angeal's frantic shout was so unworldly that for a moment he couldn't tell what it was. When the realization washed over him, he was nearly sick - he _had_ heard a groan, and he _had_ heard the impact of a body against the floor, his best friend _was_ panicking, and that inhuman sound was Sephiroth, _screaming_ in pain. Genesis was flooded with adrenaline, higher thought processes shutting down in favor of getting his body to move, move, MOVE, have to get to them _NOW_ , Genesis, _GO-_

Sephiroth screamed again, and it took the vague sensation of falling to inform him that he had jumped from the top of the ladder, as he was currently lacking the dexterity it would have taken to maneuver down it, and anyway, it wasn't like the fall would hurt him at his level of enhancement. And it wasn't like that was important, he berated himself somewhat hysterically as he braced for his imminent meeting with the floor. Leave it to Genesis Rhapsodos to make himself the topic of conversation while one of his closest friends was crying out in agony and terror; can't let Sephiroth have the spotlight, oh no, not even if he's dying-!

Genesis had already known he was bad at handling situations in which people he cared about were hurt, but he hadn't realized his thoughts were going to unravel and head towards the deep end quite as quickly as they had, and he gave himself a mental slap in the face even as he turned what would have actually been a fairly jarring landing into a roll and got back on his feet, moving immediately towards Angeal's hulking form and that of the collapsed Sephiroth without looking at either of them for more than the second it took him to orient himself. Yes, fine, he was bad at this, but he was still a soldier, and a SOLDIER, and he could do this. He'd just have to approach the dilemma as though they were on the battlefield; yes, he'd just treat it like he would if the three of them were at the front, except-

Except, this would never happen in the field. Sephiroth did not make noise when he was injured, unless it was particularly painful, and then he might growl or perhaps even snarl before he proceeded to murder whoever or whatever had actually managed to wound him in the most brutal ways he knew how, of which there were many, but Sephiroth _did not_ scream. Heck, back before they'd made First, when Genesis and Angeal were still Thirds and Sephiroth a recently-promoted Second, the latter had nearly been disemboweled by a monster in the Wutaian countryside, having taken the hit while attempting to keep the team's medic alive - a failed endeavor that had resulted in Angeal taking charge while the remaining Thirds quickly rigged up something to carry their silver-haired superior on, Genesis himself spending the next few hours with his hands pressed tightly to Sephiroth's stomach to keep his insides where they belonged as they tried to make their way back to a base. Through all of it, the youngest of the Trinity, as they had come to be known, had never made more than a quiet hissing sound to indicate that he was in pain, and maybe that was why Genesis _really_ couldn't deal with the situation at hand. He'd nearly died that day, for Gaia's sake, and he'd never made a sound, so what could possibly be causing the shrieks, now interspersed with sobs, that filled the enormous chamber and rang in Genesis' ears? He was terrified to find out.

"Gen, help me!" Angeal's gruff voice ordered, and he realized that he'd finally made it over to his friends, his gaze instantly drawn to Sephiroth even though he didn't want to look. He was down on his hands and knees, fingers denting the floor with his SOLDIER strength as he actually stopped yelling and transitioned to moans instead, the sounds broken as his breath hitched in gasping cries. His torso was bare, his sliced black coat lying in a crumpled heap by his side, as though he'd dropped it when he fell to the floor. Sephiroth's face was completely obscured, his silver hair hanging down towards the floor, a thick curtain which hid him from view and left the cut on his shoulder completely visible. Contrary to what should have been - namely, the small wound already healed over and nothing but a memory - it was bigger now than it had been when Genesis left to shut down the equipment, bleeding steadily and seeming to grow in size. As the red-haired SOLDIER stared, trying to decide if it was actually getting larger or if that was just his panic making it appear that way, he could have sworn he saw something _writhing_ beneath Sephiroth's skin. From the way the youngest of the three went from pained moans back to agonized wails, he gathered that his eyes were not playing tricks on him as he'd hoped.

He was left standing there, helplessly, able only to watch Angeal fall to his knees beside their friend, the _thing_ under his skin moving once again and most definitely widening the gash, which began to pour more blood out over Sephiroth's sweat-slicked skin. Genesis was rooted to the spot still when Sephiroth broke off screaming to vomit, nearly collapsing as the convulsions hit; Angeal quickly swept his hair out of his face and held him as best he could, yelling for Genesis to come grab his other side, but the smell of sickness rushing into his nose was almost enough to make him throw up as well, and he squeezed his eyes shut - pointlessly, it turned out, as the image of Sephiroth on the floor seemed to be burned into his mind. What kept him immobilized more than anything else, though, was the strong coppery scent of blood that came along with it, and thought he knew it was the worst thing he could have done, he opened his eyes and looked at the SOLDIER on the ground, noting with detached shock the bright spatters in the puddle under his friend's face and the trails of crimson streaming down his too-pale chin to paint his neck and exposed chest.

Once the retching ended, Sephiroth trembled in Angeal's grasp, but was blessedly silent save his quiet sobs and labored gasps for breath, and Genesis finally forced himself to stumble forward, only to copy the black-haired man and fall to his knees next them, hesitantly reaching out, but not managing to actually touch either one of them. It was quiet for a moment, and he foolishly assumed that the worst was over - when Sephiroth gasped very noticeably and his shaking form began to stiffen, he realized it had only been the eye of the storm. Abruptly, all of Sephiroth's strength seemed to leave him, and only Angeal was between him and the floor. As the muscular SOLDIER adjusted his grip, Genesis saw Sephiroth starting to shake, and not in the trembling way he had been before. He barely recognized his own voice, high-pitched and panicky as it was, when he opened his mouth and screeched, "I think he's having a seizure!" at Angeal, who held onto Sephiroth with one arm wrapped around him, his other hand pulling a small knife out of its sheath at his belt and tossing the blade away (Genesis' eyes darted after the gleaming steel as it skittered across the floor of their own volition, even as his mind shrieked for him to pay attention to what was important here) so he could put the leather in Sephiroth's mouth as he began to convulse in earnest.

Genesis had never felt so sickened in his entire life. He hated to feel helpless, and now he was worse than useless on top of it, unable to do anything but stare as Angeal did everything in his power to help Sephiroth, who had started to scream again, the sound muffled the slightest bit by the piece of creaking leather clenched between his teeth, but still clearly more intense than it had been before. His howls of torment reached a crescendo as the moving _thing_ beneath his skin made another, more violent appearance, and at last _burst_ forth from the fissure in his shoulder in a shower of blood and-

And Genesis couldn't take it anymore, falling to his own hands and knees as his stomach purged itself, the remains of his last meal spilling out all over the floor while bloodied black feathers fluttered slowly out of the air around the trio.

* * *

...Yes. Yes, I am proud of the imagery in this one. Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed; be sure to let me know what you thought, and maybe where I should start the next chapter - right here, immediately after this, or should I time-skip to after they've gotten Sephiroth to a safe place and flash back to the struggle of doing so? Help me make up my mind lol. Thanks so much for reading!


End file.
